UPDATE: Folks, I made a point of not disparaging Mr. King or his body of work here at dKos (or on Twitter, where I am generally a huge fan of his). Just that this particular diary raises questions in how the supporting information was presented. I'm seeing some personal attacks (rightly HRed) below that are uncalled for and infinitely frustrating. I'm not sure why, but I still expected better from this place.
UPDATE II: Lefty Coaster has an excellent diary up on this topic, as well. Do please check it out.
Much is being said in a current diary by Mr. King regarding Bernie Sanders's presence on Meet the Press this past Sunday. In it, we're told that Bernie Sanders (not his campaign) has issued a fake apology, is out of touch with the very people he's hired to help with his outreach, and even tossed out "working with all groups," which is shades of #AllLivesMatter.
Mr. King underscores his point with the following text:
“Well, that was sent out by a staffer, not by me,” Sanders said. “Look, we are reaching out to all kinds of groups. Absolutely I met with folks at Black Lives Matter.”
“I understand that you said a staffer put it out, but you felt an apology was necessary?” Todd asked.
“No, I don’t. I think we’re going to be working with all groups. This was sent out without my knowledge,” Sanders said.
Let's take a look at the video that covers the text that Mr. King quotes in his diary. This also includes all those other groups that seem to just be an allusion in the text above:
Mercy! This is either an attempt by Sanders to downplay his concern for Black Lives Matter (sinister!), or an attempt to show he is trying to build a broad coalition of supporters based on a variety of topics. I don't know which one it could be. If only we knew more.
Oh wait, we do! Check below for more...
What is missing from Mr. King's diary is what Sanders said in the middle of those two video segments I edited together (which I think is obvious, because my video editing prowess is practically nonexistent). It's Bernie Sanders speaking for about 3/4 the time of the previous two segments. I wonder what he said that Shaun King didn't think was worth mentioning?
But on this issue of Black Lives Matter, let me be very clear: the issue that they are raising is a very, very important issue, and there is no candidate for President who will be stronger in fighting against institutional racism...and by the way, reforming a broken criminal justice system.
Chuck, we have more people in jail in the United States of America than any other country on earth, and we need real changes. We need to do away with the militarization of local police departments. We need to do away with minimum sentencing. We need education and jobs for our young people rather than jails and incarceration.
Yup. Bernie totally doesn't care.
eyeroll
I could bore you all with whatever opinions I may have into what prompted Shaun King to write the diary he did, but only he knows for sure, so it's kind of pointless. I'm just going to close by asking...begging...pleading...for both sides (yes, I'm looking at you too, fellow Sanders supporters) to stop Prolonging the Butthurt* about this issue so we can move forward and get things done. All this squabbling is getting in the way of making actual progress.
*Worst Cake album ever, in my opinion.